Every Second Counts: 5 Industries Harnessing the Power of SCADA Systems to Maximize Uptime

With the growing complexity of industries and the need to control operations remotely, there is an increasing demand for robust systems to facilitate close supervision.

But how can this be achieved? Let's rewind the clock to the mid-20th century. Historically, organizations utilized relays and timers to monitor operations remotely without physically sending people to the ground to interact with each device.

While relays and timers helped organizations solve complex challenges, they became limited as operations scaled out in size. Relays became challenging to reconfigure, recognizing errors became increasingly difficult, and control panels ate massive amounts of space. With these challenges at hand, managers needed a fully automated system to increase control and monitoring.

Fast forward to the present and developed, robust systems—like SCADA —have provided optimal remote access to numerous local modules. But what exactly is SCADA? Supervisory control and data acquisition is a system that utilizes hardware and software architecture to enable organizations to perform the following:

• Control industrial processes remotely
• Track, collect, process, and store real-time data
• Record events into a log file
• Enable managers to interact with equipment through intuitive graphical presentations

While SCADA's evolution dates back to the early 1970s, the system has undergone significant development, aiding company operations to run at optimum efficiency. Today, SCADA systems do more than collect data. They use artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze figures and make expert decisions without relying on humans prone to error.

That said, organizations can optimize SCADA system performance with products/services from Telstar Instruments, enabling them to make data-driven decisions. However, before settling on a SCADA system, pin-point integration, amp up your IT security, and opt for a reputable service provider that offers sector-specific solutions.

INDUSTRIES HARNESSING THE POWER OF SCADA SYSTEMS

Gone are the days of managers making intuition-driven decisions. Today, supervisors rely on systems like SCADA to make well-informed judgment calls. Take a deep dive into the various industries that utilize SCADA to refine their operations.

1. Oil and Gas Industry

Oil and gas industries utilize SCADA to monitor pumping sites, pressure, and pipeline flow. Close monitorization enables gas and oil companies to improve productivity and keep workers safe.

SCADA comes in handy when collecting real-time data from storage sites, pumping stations, and pipelines, enabling managers to identify areas with potential flaws. Managers can then take corrective measures to increase efficiency and address serious equipment malfunction that can lead to dangerous, costly accidents.

2. Manufacturing

Here, SCADA is used to control all plant operations. Manufacturers utilize new-and-improved systems to monitor temperature, pressure, humidity, and production lines to ensure maximum effectiveness. SCADA also controls industrial automation and robots to ensure just-in-time production takes place seamlessly.

3. Mass Transit

SCADA is widely used in mass transit systems, like railways and subways, to control critical switches in railroad crossing gates. On the road, SCADA is used to regulate traffic lights, control traffic flow, and identify malfunctioning traffic signals.

4. Food and Beverage Production

Are you struggling to meet food quality and production goals? SCADA systems are here to help. SCADA monitors and controls all food production stages, ensuring temperatures are regulated and ingredients are measured and mixed precisely.

5. Electric Generation and Transmission Systems

In an electricity generation plant, SCADA monitors every stage from fuel input to electricity output. In electricity transmission, SCADA detects fluctuations in demand and controls the amount of electricity distributed over a long distance. SCADA also monitors flaws in transmission lines and attempts to correct the error to restore power.

THE FUTURE OF SCADA

As seen, SCADA is a high-tech, robust system indispensable in several industries. Like all computer-based technologies, SCADA will continue to evolve. With the looming worldwide implementation of the 5G technology and the ever-expanding Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), gathering real-time data using SCADA is simpler than ever before. Ultimately, future SCADA systems should aim to increase versatility, modularity, usability, scalability, and ease of implementation.